In a consultation paper, Finance Department officials floated several possible responses to Chinese companies’ rapid development of electric vehicles. (The Logic)

Talking point: The paper proposes a potential tariff on EVs imported from China, and also warns that Chinese companies may seek to “establish facilities to manufacture EVs within Canada” in light of such tariffs. In response, Ottawa is seeking input on whether to introduce “restrictions related to transactions and investment from Chinese sources in the Canadian EV supply chain” to neutralize those efforts. China’s explosive EV production in recent years has prompted worries in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere that a flood of cheap Chinese supply could undermine domestic markets. Finance Canada officials said China uses a “broad range of non-market policies” like “pervasive subsidization, including of the supply chains of necessary components, problematic or non-existent labour and environmental standards” to prop up its EV industry.